The Prisoner's Dilemma
by Smooth Doggie
Summary: AU Tag to The Experimental Job. I Felt Eliot's character could have been developed further in this episode, so I've amended it to fit my backstory for the handsome hitter. If it all goes to plan then there'll be a little Eliot/Parker romance too. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**AU Tag to The Experimental Job.**

**Usual rules apply, sadly they don't belong to me or anyone I could even steal them from! Some SPOILERS from the Season Three Episode The Experimental Job (and one itty little bit from Season 4 – The Long Way Down Job (Episode One). It really shouldn't spoil you too much and unless you've seen it already, then it will be hard to know which piece might actually spoil you… confused, you will be!**

**The episode tag, even though AU, I think is necessary as I wanted to highlight how crappy this assignment must have been for our favourite Retrieval Specialist, in my own inimitable way. I'm a huge Eliot & Parker shipper, so I'm sorry if this isn't your cup of tea but you never know where my muse might take us on this trip…**

**A little swearing, No Slash, No bashing of characters as they're all ace, however I like Parker and Eliot together because I think Spencer could handle her particular brand of crazy in a much better way than poor Hardison, think he might have bitten off a little more than he can chew.**

**Hope you like it enough to let me know by way of a review. I'd be mighty grateful to those of you who do review, and for those of you that just lurk – well that's cool too.**

He had a feeling that this wasn't going to be one of their more straightforward cons and if this went down anyway like he suspected it might, this was going to have bigger ramifications personally than any of the other cons he'd taken part in to date. The acting itself was hardly unusual, though rather less often was the likelihood of causing such wounds to be reopened or past histories to be highlighted. He knew that Nate would have some inkling about his past; the others however would be less inclined to know such intimate details about his former life. There was no doubting the wounds that stood to be torn open, former motivations clawed at possibly revealing what had indeed made him into the man he was today and despite all his innermost goodness and a strong heart, there was no doubt that he was a very bad man. As he pulled on the costume that would help him pull off this particular charade he reflected on those years he gave himself to the United States Army, what he had seen and done had changed him from the fresh faced country boy he started out as. If only his mamma had seen the monster he'd become. Knowing his incubuses would revisit from the moment he donned that olive green garb and the nightmares might return wasn't going to stop him helping to find out why that poor man had died and dumped in such unceremonious circumstances. The man was a Veteran and deserved respect in death, more than he'd clearly been given in life. Eliot donned his old beanie, in essence pulling on his persona for the time being. He'd have to watch how he acted from now on, confidence and carefree was not a look often seen on the streets and he felt his stomach churn as he walked through the doors of the well-used haven. Straight off he could see the desperation in their eyes, sense the raw nerves and smell the visceral fear coming off them in waves. This was all before he uttered a word to anyone.

A swift glance around remind him of a world he long ago abandoned, a world he thought or rather hoped he had left behind to a certain extent. Given the fact you can't leave your nightmares behind you, however hard you tried sometimes. The men's faces said it all, classic hyper vigilance, signs of battle fatigue, sleep deprivation both from life on the streets but mostly from the nights torn from their slumber by horrific flashbacks or night terrors, reminding them in no small way of their former lives. He recognises the signs only too well; he knows them and understands them. That's why it was so important to him to play this role and for the team to take this case. He wants restitution, he wants to help, not only the client whose father paid the ultimate price, but he vowed to find a way to help these other heroes, these other unknown men who are most likely amongst the bravest men in the United States. Rejected from their homes, from their lives, from their Units once their service was done, they might have tried to return home, to assimilate back into civilian life and found it was too hard to battle their demons constantly. They needed to find a way to punish themselves for the atrocities they were party too and the faces of the dead that they feel ultimately responsible for. Or for the faces of the ones they did save and returned to their lives with no hope for a future; these were often the faces that haunted more. Eliot Spencer recognised all these symptoms because he is that man, underneath all the bravado of the respected and World renowned Retrieval Specialist is a tormented young man petrified at night to sleep for fear of his own demons.

Taking a tray while not wanting to draw attention to himself, like all good homeless people should do (according to polite society!), he ladled a healthy portion of the slop that passed for food upon his tray. _ Jesus when this was over he was going to come back here and sort this place out_. Even if it meant cooking for the guys himself, then again so far he hadn't see anyone else complaining about the food. _You've gone soft Spencer_ he muttered to himself while heading for a vacant space on a nearby bench. Reaching for the salt he ignored the man opposite him telling him that the seat was taken, when it quite obviously wasn't. Eliot knew it was going to irk the man somewhat however it was also the easiest way to get everyone's attention and ensure they knew he was a Veteran of some long forgotten conflict. Disregarding his neighbour once more in favour of his food tray, to his detriment and it was only when a hand came towards him he finally reacted. Hating that he was doing this to the poor guy, Eliot grabbed his wrist and in one swift movement flipped it over while slamming the guys' head into the table with his free hand (as softly as possible).

"Don't touch me man, just …. You don't wanna touch me." Eliot growled (deep husky voice!) noticing that he had undisputedly achieved his aim. Most were looking in his direction, though no one reacted which said perhaps it was a regular occurrence. "Just…don't touch me, after the things I've seen….and done. I just got back from Iraq." All the fight gone from him, Eliot let the man's head up and his wrist go, then sat back down where he lifted his fork and dug back into the tray of food.

"Well, with moves like that you must be a Ranger…." The man looking a little surprised by the rough handling though more impressed than pissed, rubbing his wrist gently he continued with a short chuckle, "nah man, with a grip like that you must have been a Green Beret." He smiled looking to this new olive-drab wearing street urchin.

Without actually confirming or denying the accusation Eliot turned it about on the man himself and in a low voice he said, "What about you man, you serve?"

Clearly feeling he had gained the upper hand on this newbie to the shelter the elder man proudly said "Hell yeah!" and the opted to further challenge the stranger, "Semper Fi." While proudly unveiling his tattooed arm to show the Eagle, Globe and Anchor, the traditional tattoo worn by most US Marines. "You know what it means son?"

"Always faithful," Eliot answered fork en route to his mouth.

"Always Faithful, well son I was always faithful to the Corps, they just don't tell you it don't work the other way round." Extending his hand across the Eliot, who in took it and offered his name.

"Welcome to the Fifth Street Shelter Spencer, name's Mac." He stated while shaking Eliot's hand. "So you're just back from Iraq then?" Acknowledging Eliot's affirmative he continued, "I served two tours in Nam." Leaning forward while making his offer he proposed, "if I can get you in on something, think you'd be interested? Three squares and fifty bucks per day; what do you think?"

After pausing for a moment of consideration Eliot responded, "Sure, I'm interested. Tell me more?" In that brief pause Eliot found himself pondering just how easily he'd gone from multi—millionaire Retrieval Specialist to dirty vagabond in only a matter of minutes.

Nate monitored the whole confrontation and followed the mumbled conversation thus far through his ear piece and when the talk moved to Units in which they had served he thought about giving the hitter some privacy. However Eliot kept it brief and succinct without actually giving away a single town he ever served in, which Nate thought quite impressive. Even though he often found himself amazed by the younger man's talents he rarely commented out loud, this time he felt it might be prudent to praise the hitter given the circumstances, to remind Eliot he wasn't on his own this time. Deciding upon a suitable remark which he was about to make when Eliot announced he was in, after lunch he would board a bus to the Sleep Centre. Despite not actually addressing Nate, over the years of working with the younger man he had picked up on the subtle nuances that were often directed his way whilst doubling as an answer to the Mark.

Settling upon a swift, "Good job Eliot," Nate was satisfied with Eliot's progress and getting back to the plan he switched channels in his mind to this time tune into Hardison, listening how his own very different meeting was coming along. Could they hope that the Order of the 206 infiltration might go just as smoothly?

Waiting for her role in this job Sophie also found herself listening and was impressed at how easily Eliot fitted in with the Veterans that used the homeless shelter, silently pondering how much of the real Eliot Spencer would he be pouring into this particular character?

Over on the College Campus Parker was sitting legs crossed on the grass basking in the sunshine while she waited for Hardison, she wanted to deliver the work she'd prepped for his first few classes. It didn't hurt that she actually looked like a student complete with courier bag laden with books. Eliot had been pivotal in suggesting the team actually take this case and Parker found herself wondering if there was a reason why this might be particularly poignant for him, maybe more than for the rest of them. While she comes across aloof, Parker is by no means stupid. It was a proven fact that one could learn so much more when your Mark didn't think you were actually capable of grasping everything they were saying or even better, making them believe that you weren't actually listening in the first place. It was a tool she learned long before she met Archie and even with her work within the team, Parker still felt the need to protect herself. Despite her initial efforts she found herself growing close to the members of the Leverage Team and recently she found herself thinking of them as a family. She was close to them all; Hardison, well with Alec she was supposed to be leaning towards a much different relationship than perhaps she was ready for. Another time being aloof helped her protect her heart against the aches it had suffered in her past life. Hearing Eliot speak made her reflect their time on that mountain, it had changed the level of respect she held for the hitter after their time in that Ice Cave. She had bonded with him in ways she would never thought remotely possible beforehand. After their revelations to each other in that cave they had actually talked about how the similarities they shared and their previous lives; not in any great detail, more how alike their roles within the team often were. No matter what her perceived relationship was with Hardison, she wouldn't deny that the blue eyed cowboy was intriguing her more and more as each day past. Silently she pondered how much more of an insight she might achieve into the hitter's persona during this case? Might it help her better understand the enigma and would she know more about what made him tick. Hearing Eliot announce his arrival at the Sleep Centre Parker tuned back into her ear piece, after all she wanted to keep her ears peeled for any new snippets of information.

Being roughly shoved into that four-by-six cell didn't endear the bouncy haired kid to Eliot in any way, shape or form. He was lucky the hitter was incredibly controlled and was also on his best behaviour, for the moment at least! Recalling Hardison's 'resistance is futile' reference from some alien film, he found himself repeating it regularly mantra style just to get his new character settled into the Sleep Programme. Eliot smiled wryly to himself, _things would be changing very soon and there wasn't a damn thing they would be able to do in order to stop the Leverage team once they'd set their sights on a target; certainly not considering the ramifications of their failure_.

With nothing else to do but wait it out, Eliot racked out on his new bed deciding it was much less comfortable than his memory foam super deluxe mattress back home, he decided it would be prudent to get some rest while he could. While he wasn't sure what to expect during the evening and ensuing night, he felt sure that there were going to be some shenanigans to throw them all off kilter in their new surroundings and he had barely closed his eyes when the music started. At least that's what he thought it was! Putting his hands over his ears and screwing up his face he decided he wasn't going to be getting any sleep after all! Thankfully he had been working on a mantra to help block out some of the racket, after three years living and working with Parker and Hardison of course he could block out a few irritating noises he mused. Of course he was using the term music in the loosest sense in reality it was more like an extremely loud version of an early practice period of a new band playing very badly. Considering his love of rock and metal bands, both of which he enjoyed quite loudly at times, this was taking it to a whole new dimension. There would be listening out for snippets of information, changing of 'guards' or advance warning sounds of whatever was coming next. Not only would he be sleep deprived, there would be no thinking either! Squinting his eyes closed he tried to block it out with some old Jedi breathing trick he'd learnt back in the day.

That was before the temperature began to drop.

Chilling, quite literally, in a small room was hardly a new experience for the cowboy though his current situation did remind him of just how many Veterans were living rough on the streets even in a City like Boston. His guilt prompting him to consider what he would do to help the Shelter he'd visited that day, and perhaps some of the men he was on the programme with, once he'd gotten them all out safely. He had been just about to check in with Nate when he heard his cell door being unlocked. Invited out of his 'room' he was directed towards another where a stocky man sat behind a desk. There wasn't any pushing or shoving this time and he was offered a seat in front of the mystery man. Sitting down he wondered how long it would take things to kick off, he certainly didn't want the others to suffer unnecessarily and he felt the freezing conditions and white-noise was already enough to severely disturb anyone already suffering badly with PTSD. Fortunately he didn't have to wait too long for the man to start his patter, reminding Eliot of a telemarketer reading from a script, the blond haired man started to speak. He introduced himself as Mason, said he had to 'dance for his food' just like the rest of them.

Pushing an envelope across the wooden table in front of Eliot, inviting him to open it should he wish to partake in a side line project; he could open this envelope and aim to earn an extra 100 bucks a day. Nodding his ascent, Eliot opened the envelope. He was to memorise the word written inside and promptly doing so the paper was burned while he watched. Reminding Eliot of his agreement to the new deal, he began his attempt to agitate Eliot by shouting at him. He had to keep the word from him in order to earn his extra money and if he failed, if Mason got the word out of Eliot then he'd earn nothing for his time and be thrown out of the programme. Being no fool Eliot knew to keep his cool and not let the man rile him. Sure as shit they were trying to break the men, these men from their target audience, these men who had given their all in serving their Country. The valiant ones that had made it home only to find their lives changed in such ways their families couldn't live with, men whose lives had been inextricably altered forever. Their friends, comrades in arms, dead or dying around them, scarred with images of the battles, memories of the hand to hand combat required as the battle raged closer and enemies penetrated the imaginary line. It wasn't entirely clear what the plan was here at the Facility but it certainly wasn't merely a sleep deprivation programme.

Eliot just stared at the man in front of him, confounded expression upon his face, he couldn't try to mind fuck this guy, though he wouldn't have minded five minutes in a room alone with him nor would he get tired of punching him! One thing was becoming abundantly clear, they were trying not only to break their spirits with the white noise and extreme temperatures, they were working on ways to achieve breaking point before extracting whatever information they wanted from each subject. Testing out new ways to interrogate without actually laying a hand on him; _the newest form of politically correct torture_ Eliot thought to himself.

"I'm not going to lay a hand on you, I promise, but I will use every other means possible to get that word from you." Mason as he had addressed himself then stood as if to make his point over the seated hitter, "for each day you I fail to get the word, you earn another hundred bucks," annunciating each word with a pointed finger down towards the hitter, "but you leave here with nothing if I get the word from you. Do you understand?"

"I understand," Eliot calmly stated, "when do we start?"

"WE STARTED THE MINUTE YOU WALKED INTO THE ROOM" bellowed Mason, going redder in the face than should be humanly possible with exploding, he continued screaming at the top of his voice at the younger man, "I'M GOING TO USE EVERY TRICK IN THE BOOK TO BREAK YOU, YOU FESTERING, USELESS, SHIT FOR BRAINS, STINKING SON OF A BITCH, YOU'RE GOING TO GIVE ME THAT WORD IF IT'S THE LAST THING YOU DO!" once more leaning down from the table and shouting into Eliot's face his thinly veiled threats.

"So we start tomorrow then." Came the way-too calm reply from the steely eyed hitter. Standing up and turning towards the door he had come in through, he asked to go back to his room.

Only once the door was slammed behind him and the resonating noise came appeared back through the speakers did Eliot put a finger to his ear to activate his ear piece, "Nate, they got trained Interrogators in here, they ain't tryin' to cure PTSD, they're tryin' to cause it!"

It was much later that evening when Eliot was finally getting bored with the music that the cell door once again opened. He knew that they were relatively safe in the confines of these cells, certainly from the usual people trying to get hold of him. Though for some reason he felt no need to move from his spot on the bed as he felt safe in the company of whoever had just opened the door. Confirming his senses were still as sharp as ever when the petite blonde thief appeared in his field of vision, Eliot actually smiled at her as she came closer to his meditation pose.

Waving a hand in front of his face Parker had crept into the room, although it felt much more like a cell in her humble opinion, worried that she would spook the hitter unintentionally thereby causing all manner of chaos. Parker didn't want to upset him or cause a ruckus, so once he had acknowledged her presence with a small smile, she practically leapt up on the end of the bed to sit with him. Given the situation it was extremely lucky for them both that they regularly practised American Sign Language (ASL), never knowing when it might come in use, they were quite grateful for the skill this night.

"Hey Sparky," Parker wore her brightest smile in an attempt to deflect some of the misery she felt coming from the usually upbeat cowboy. "Why's it so cold in here?" she signed.

"Another way to drive you mad," Eliot signed slowly and carefully to the thief, ensuring he used the correct signals. There were many different ways to sign and while Eliot was a fast learner he was nowhere near as proficient as Parker was at Sign Language. "Nice to see you Parker." He signed somewhat wearily. He could cope with torture better than the endless sitting around waiting for something to happen. He was a man of action and all this time laying around, some of the time planning his next course of action and some of it talking with the team, though all of the time thinking about why he was actually in there.

Spotting a flicker of despair in her friend's normally bright blue eyes, Parker motioned for Eliot to sit next to her with their backs against the wall. When the hitter moved, she lifted his arm and placed it around her shoulder while nestling in closer under his arm. She lay there for close on an hour, knowing that the night shift guard was asleep at his post and she would be safe for a little while longer, all the while she 'listened' to Eliot's heart beating through his muscular chest. He felt chilled to the bone and Parker would have to bring blankets of some fashion on her next visit. The music was awful and had she not been concentrating on the strong vibration of Eliot's heart for the past hour, she was sure she'd have been driven half mad by the noise.

Knowing she couldn't sit there for much longer, it was so cold and the music was beginning to seep into her subconscious, she raised her head and with a downturned half smile she signed that it was time for her to go. Opting to tell Eliot that "After all, she still had Hardison's homework to complete before she could call it a night." She was gone from his side in a moment, pausing only to place a kiss on the hitter's forehead before waving goodbye and sneaking back out of the room.

Eliot was left with a new situation to think about once the quirky thief left his side, one he wasn't entirely sure he was comfortable thinking about. Perhaps he'd dreamt the whole thing, some bizarre hallucination caused by the white-noise reverberating through his very core. Surely she hadn't just kissed him in such a tender and dare he say it, loving way. Putting a hand to the place that still felt warmed on his forehead, he knew his actions were purely to comfort him in a time of discomfort. However, when he found himself sleeping closer to the spot Parker had previously occupied, he knew he was in trouble.

**Author's Note: I know that there are several inaccuracies from the actual episode; I have chosen to change a few things to keep it in line with my own version of events. I hope this hasn't spoiled your reading pleasure in any way. This is almost finished and is only going to be a three-piece and then back to Escaping the Past…..I just needed a tiny distraction….**

**Grateful for any thoughts, reviews, comments or cookies you might have for me x**


	2. Chapter 2

**Usual rules apply, sadly they don't belong to me or anyone I could even steal them from!**

Alec was part way through his first few days at the Fraternity for spies, the Order of the 206 and he wasn't sure what was making him feel so weird. The fact that these guys were in fact cold blooded killers and Eliot was usually the one who got this close to the villains and the more dangerous side of things, or was it nothing to do with danger, perhaps he was just feeling guilty at the fact he was basking in being so cool; he'd never been cool in his life! Always the geek, even to the team, even now in his thirties he remained a geek despite having the attention of a beautiful and often eccentric Parker, he still didn't feel cool enough to fit in. This group of Dust Men were making him into the kind of guy he'd always secretly coveted becoming. The kind of guy who throughout college had all the girls flocking to his dorm, all the other guys were jealous of his wizard-like computer skills and of course envious of his considerable talents with the ladies. Not to mention the ultra-cool nickname he'd been given, HP, I mean who didn't want to be likened to the boy wizard himself. All this while he'd been jail breaking phones that evening, he'd thought back to when he'd told Parker at the beginning of this con that "even he couldn't fake being cool". With all his wicked computer skills, there was just no way to do it. Finally, realising he should have met with Parker an hour before hand he excused himself from the dormitory and headed for the quiet confines of the library. Open all hours for hard working students to study when convenient made it easy for them to meet without drawing undue attention to themselves.

Spotting Parker sat upright at a table close to the back he waved across before heading her way. After a couple of interruptions for high-fives with a couple of other students a madly smiling Hardison finally made it to the table where Parker was waiting.

"Hope I'm not keeping you from your obviously busy schedule," snapped the annoyed thief. She'd waited for almost an hour to see him with this assignment and it was time she was quickly realising could have been spent keeping Eliot warm instead of waiting for Hardison to put down his new toys.

"Hey hey pretty lady keep cool, I'm just playing my part, what's got you all upset?" he asked as he reached across the table towards Parker. Trying to catch her hand thought missing as she pulled it away swiftly.

"Nothing, I've just been waiting a long time and I don't like to wait." No reason for snapping at Hardison except about his appalling time keeping, he was only playing a part after all. "Here's your homework for the American History of Sewing." She added handing over a file containing the ten page essay she had written with Sophie's help earlier that day. Quite how Sophie had known so much about the subject would remain a mystery to Parker, for the moment at least.

"Ah, the sewing assignment... are you serious you've written all that for me? I dropped this subject Parker…." Alec started to say but stopped when he noticed the fire coming from his friend's nostrils "thought clearly I didn't tell you I'd dropped this class, did I?" He gulped, almost shrieking back from the slap he knew he deserved. It never came.

"So I wait for over an hour, after writing for more than five hours…." Parker's rant was interrupted by two very young ladies dolled up to the nines, eyes out on stalks as they very visibly checked Hardison out.

"Hey there HP," sang two frat groupies as they sashayed past the arguing pair.

"Oh, hey ladies," he replied politely with a casual mock salute as they walked past. Fine looking ladies indeed, he thought as he turned back towards where the thief had stood. Realising that he should concentrate on Parker before she stabbed him with a fork, he turned in time to spot the lithe thief's back as she stormed away from him.

"Wait, hey Parker, wait up a minute." He moved fast trying to catch up to the swift thief.

"Wait, oh you mean wait on top of the two hours I've already waited," Parker ripped the essay in two and threw it at Hardison, "not likely." She muttered before turning and practically disappearing into thin air.

"Man oh man, what have I done?" he asked himself, knowing it would be pointless trying to catch up with the lithe blonde, especially when she was mad at him. Which these days seemed more often than not and previously he had considered that he might just have bitten off more than he could chew with courting the young thief. Scooping up the discarded paperwork, he turned back towards his dorm hoping he'd be able to think of something creative in order to make it up to Parker the next day.

Bumping into Travis Zilgram on his way back to the dorm, it was fast approaching midnight and time to turn in. The head of the Order of the 206 stopped him and invited him to a party, or rather summoned him to attend a private fraternity function that was being hosted in another dorm. Pointing Alec in the right direction, he promised him that there would be plenty of other hot chicks awaiting his attention that evening. It was obvious to Hardison that Zilgram had seen his fight with Parker and needed to cover up the heated discussion.

"Ah, slight misunderstanding tis all," grinned Hardison, laying it on as thickly as he could, if he was going to play a slime ball then he was going to lay it on thick. "She'll be back when she misses the special HP loving, that woman's eyes ain't painted on."

Travis slapped him on the back, clearly a sign of approval thought Hardison who suddenly hated himself for talking about Parker in that way. "Come on man, come and enjoy yourself while you wait for her to come back then." Travis suggested with one hand on his back and the other pointing towards the brotherhood fraternity's dormitory wing. "The party and fun is this way HP." Leaving Hardison in no uncertain terms that he was expected to attend this party, clearly he was needed to unlock some more mobile phones and clear a few more unpaid parking fines. Things Hardison didn't really mind doing for people he liked, he truly hated doing these things for such odious individuals. He was beginning to hate this task entirely all too much.

The following morning found Sophie and Parker seated around the breakfast bar in Nate's apartment while they waited for the mastermind to finish his shower. Clearly he was using it as a good place to think through the next step of his master plan because this shower was taking much longer than normal. Parker was tired though steadfastly refusing to complain considering what Eliot was going through in order to help out this client. Stifling yet another yawn she glanced up from her cereal to find Sophie staring at her intently.

"Is everything alright Parker?" the grifter enquired of her young friend. It was entirely usual for Parker to be quite this sullen but the really obvious tilt was her behaviour towards her cereal meant quite categorically that there was something quite wrong with the young woman. "You seem distracted, is there anything you want to talk about it?" Sophie offered.

Pausing fractionally to consider the offer before slamming down her spoon, milk leaping out of the bowl onto the table, Parker spoke with more animation than the Grifter has previously thought possible.

"He makes me so mad," it was like a cork flying out of the champagne bottle, it all poured out of Parker like a fast flowing river right into the tributary. All her worries about Eliot, her frustrations with Hardison and her late night visits with them both just for starters. By the time she had finished, she noticed that Sophie had stopped what she was doing and was positively agog at what she'd just said. _What had she just said_?

"Parker, I had no idea that you felt that way about Eliot." Sophie was initially unsure that she'd heard the thief correctly. She could instantly understand the attraction towards the charming Southerner but surely Parker was with Hardison? "What's happening with you and Alec?"

"I don't know, it just feels wrong." Parker knew she needed help with this and Sophie was the closest thing she had for a big sister, she daren't refer to her as a matriarch even though the Grifter was almost certainly the only maternal figure Parker had ever been able to rely on in her short life. "He's like a friend, my brother, I like hanging out with him but I'm not into the whole kissing and hand holding thing with him." Parker was practically blushing as she explained her rationale behind her comments about Hardison and how she felt when he tried to kiss her or even hold her hand at times. There was nothing wrong with Alec Hardison; he just wasn't _her_ type of guy. Not that she knew what her type of guy was until more recently, so their time together hadn't been a total bust, she'd come away from this with some more knowledge than she'd had going into it. After all it had hardly been a tough gig, Alec Hardison has a fit athletic body and boundless energy. At the beginning she actually enjoyed their physical relationship finding it both thoroughly pleasurable and remarkably informative.

"It doesn't feel right Sophie, I don't know how to explain it to you and I certainly don't know how to explain it to Alec. What do I do Sophie?"

Sophie wasn't entirely sure she was hearing all this. Had she woken up in an alternative reality, one where the quirky thief was articulating, not only in full sentences but also about her feelings and relationship with the young Hacker? Risking a glance at her morning Earl Grey tea hoping to shake back on a much less surprised face, Sophie cleared her throat and began to offer advice to the younger girl. Things the Grifter had learned about life and relationships as she grew up, not grifting talents as this was real life, a real relationship issue and it therefore required real solutions.

Eliot was freezing cold, he didn't think he'd felt this cold in quite some time. In fact the last time he'd felt this cold was back in Ploce during the Balkans conflict. Why it hadn't been labelled a war he would never understand, battles are battles, death is death and conflicts are a version of war that apparently doesn't get acknowledged by the rest of the World. Trying to get his chattering teeth back under control he began taking slow breaths in through his nose and after holding for a few seconds he slowly released the breath through his mouth. Once he had regained some semblance of control over his trembling body, Eliot then tried to clear his mind. This was not the time or place for him to be caught off guard by a nightmare or flashback. Inhaling once more he smelled the trademark vanilla scent that Parker always wore, she had left it lingering in his cell. Sitting up he pondered his earlier visitor, she had sat so close to him sharing her body warmth practically soaking him in her scent while she sat so close to him. Trying to decide in his mind when she had made the transition from eccentric thief who he'd kept at a mistrusting distance, hell he hadn't felt confident enough to tell her about his first purchases from that initial monster pay out; yet now he found himself drinking in her lingering scent and sitting closer to the spot where the timid creature had previously sat? His thoughts were interrupted when Mason had his lackey summon Eliot from his cell. Moving towards the door, each movement calculated and controlled, smirking to himself he deliberately ignored the bouncy haired kid who'd earlier shoved him, lines on his face from where he'd clearly been napping on the job.

"Okay Spencer, hope I didn't wake you from a comfortable slumber?" Mason chortled as he made the little joke with himself, lackeys laughing along with their boss. _Christ it was pathetic_ thought Eliot. Mason's body language changed from joking to business as he folded his arms sharply across his body noting how stern Eliot looked the CIA Dust Man decided it was time for business.

"You've done well so far Spencer, how about we step this up." Hoping to catch out the veteran while he was sleep deprived and freezing cold, this was Mason's favourite part of the Game, when his new interrogation methods were employed and the anti was more than upped, this was breaking point for the vast majority of their subjects. The military man in them couldn't resist the challenge and it was the very same trait that ended up being their downfall. Three simple words "Double or nothing?" He said coolly to the younger man.

He knew he was being played, he knew the tricks and methods employed by the American Government in order to break down prisoners. He'd played these games when he was on his Commando course, the Escape and Evasion part had a section on Conduct after Capture, he'd played both sides of the line and this was bread and butter stuff for Eliot Spencer. Deciding he could have a little fun with taking +these bastards down he replied in two simple words; "Bring it."

Nate hadn't expected the water, Mason had told Eliot he wouldn't lay a hand on him, yet he'd gone back on this when he started physically torturing the young hitter. There hadn't been any signs before of subjects being water boarded or tortured physically beforehand. It was bad enough just getting drenched before then being returned to that freezing cold cell. Yet this was exactly what Nate learned was happening via Eliot's earpiece. Deciding already that this had gone quite far enough and despite any former curiosity the mastermind had regarding new information about the enigmatic young cowboy, he simply wasn't willing to send the younger man over the edge in the name of curiosity. Calling Hardison for an update he listened carefully to ensure they had enough on the Dust Men to call a halt to their infiltration of the Order of the 206 Fraternity. Content there was enough for one of his plans he called the team together in order to play out Plan P.

Sophie and Parker too had been listening when the water started flowing, they listened eyes glistening with unshed tears as the hitter fought to keep his cool while being physically manhandled and practically drown. Mason was a monster he was willing to kill people in order to learn a made-up word for part of a Game, a game that was being played using real live subjects. Moving on Nate's order having listened to Hardison's upload of information, Parker was to head straight for the cells and release as many as possible. She was also to ensure Eliot was alright and physically capable to continue with their plan. As she headed out the door, a hand on her arm pulled her around to face Sophie. The grifter gently pulled the thief towards her and gave her a brief reassuring hug, speaking softly to calm the thief, "He'll be fine we're getting him out of there now Parker. Go and be strong for them both, we'll work the rest out afterwards."

Not trusting her voice Parker merely nodded before turning to leave, zipping up her coat she grabbed the bag she had prepared earlier on that evening and set off for the Sleep Centre on the edge of campus grounds.

Eliot came to, he was on the stone floor soaking wet for some reason and his head and chest hurt like he'd been trampled by a rhino. The temperature had dropped again and he could feel icicles forming under his nose and the sharp pain he felt when he tried to take a deep breath soon told him enough of what he was somehow missing. What on earth were they trying to do here? He couldn't hear any music, for whatever reason, however it did mean he could hear voices coming from outside the cells. Deciding not to move and play possum instead, he closed his eyes and listened to hear what was being said.

"I'm telling you he's a plant Zilgram and if he's in here then it's likely your new friend might be one too." Mason was speaking harshly though trying at the same time to whisper while he clearly talked about their little session together earlier. "Just check him out for Christ sake before this all comes tumbling down around you." Issuing this thinly veiled threat clearly wasn't sitting well with the other party, "I don't need to remind you that the protection you are currently afforded comes with a price and if you can't keep up your end of the bargain then we'll have to look elsewhere."

Pocketing his phone having threatened the young student Mason moved towards Spencer's cell. Looking through the hatch he saw the stocky veteran had yet to move. Intrigued by this guy, he couldn't be CIA or Mason would know all about him. Or had he been sent in to check out how the Dust Men were performing, like a Mystery Shopper? They wouldn't dare check on him in such a disgusting manner, surely he'd proved that he could provide the team with some truly specimens of humanity. Whatever he was unsure about he was equally as confident that Eliot Spencer had been trained well. He hadn't been a mere soldier or commando, he'd seen the harsher sides of combat and somehow he'd come out the other side.

His mobile phone alerted him to his next caller, pulling his phone out he opened the phone and simply stated, "Well? Did you find out who he was?" Listening carefully while the smile broadened on his face, "Oh really, you'll fax those through of course?" his hand wiping the side of his face entirely grateful for the suspicions he'd spotted these interlopers before they could cause too much damage to the project. "Thank you Smythe." He said before closing the phone.

"Let's make sure Mr Spencer is comfortable, open up here please James?" asked Mason as he pulled a syringe from his jacket pocket. Snaking closer to the fallen soldier he motioned James and Ryan to subdue Spencer should he awake. Slowed by his impromptu swim and effects of the severe cold Eliot wasn't firing on all cylinders and hardly noticed the three men entering his room let alone their close proximity until they grabbed his arms on either side. Despite instantly struggling it had been too easy for them to overpower the former marine and he felt the needle pierce his chest wall and the liquid enter his bloodstream and course its way through his veins. "You'll regret this Mason," Eliot managed a hushed warning to the CIA Interrogator, "You don't know who you've messed with here."

"I'd ask you to pass on my regards to Mr Ford, but your little team of merry men are highly unlikely to get here in time to save you. This syringe will help your breathing become damn near impossible, which on top of your 'accidental' drowning earlier will eventually compromise your entire pulmonary system. Sadly, the cold from your time in this inhospitable temperature will seal your fate. Another tragic tale of a former soldier turned street junkie." Mason took far too much pleasure in telling Eliot his plans without knowing that the remainder of the team were listening to every single terrifying word.

**Author's Note: I know that there are several inaccuracies from the actual episode; I have chosen to change a few things to keep it in line with my own version of events. I hope this hasn't spoiled your reading pleasure in any way. This is only going to be a three-piece and then back to Escaping the Past…..I just needed a tiny distraction….**

**Grateful for any thoughts, reviews, comments or cookies you might have for me x**


	3. SORRY!

**Sorry guys, this isn't an update. As I'm woefully behind schedule for this and my other story already, for which I humbly apologize, I thought I would send you a quick note to let you know that I am coming back. **

**For anyone who might be interested I'd like to offer a reason for my absence. I can honestly say that the last two months of my life have been the most difficult to endure thus far in my life. My very brave mother lost her battle with cancer, after a relentless struggle, she was defeated in mid-September and since then I've been lost in a mixture grief, anger and sadness.**

**To be fair, while I personally feel like I've been going through the mill recently, it is nothing compared with what some of you have had to deal with given all the disasters that have struck since my last post back in September:**

**Hurricane SANDY devastated parts of the Eastern Seaboard and left thousands of you homeless, injured or bereaved yourselves; I wanted to let you know that I've been thinking of you all and I fervently hope that in time you'll be back in your homes, once again surrounded by your friends and loved ones.**

**I'm not sure I should be pouring my heart out to you all in this way, and I'm grateful to those of you who are still reading, but I needed to vent before I exploded. Thank you for listening and I hope to hear from you once I get the update loaded at Thanksgiving. Best of luck to you all, for whatever you're going through in your own lives at this time.**

_Thank you all - the kindness of strangers never fails to astound me, truly._


	4. Chapter 3

**AU Tag to The Experimental Job.**

**Usual rules apply I don't own anything to do with Leverage or the gang who produce it. Nothing short of winning the Lottery is going to help me out in this department….more's the pity!**

**I want to start by thanking you all again, I really can't believe all the really lovely messages I've had over the last few days. Those of you logged in will receive a reply within the next few days (if not already) and for those guests without logins or in particular the following people: Afykafy & Kim. THANK YOU, really and truly, from the bottom of my heart.**

**Finally, I would like to wish all my American site-friends and their families, all the very best for Thanksgiving and the remaining year.**

**On with the show…. (which will now be four parts, not three…she adds, ducking and sloping away, quietly…)**

The remaining Team's audible gasps were barely perceptible across the comms, trailed by an eerie silence then a rapid volley of shouts for Eliot. Nate demanded silence once more, then summoned his inner calm, "Eliot," nothing "Eliot, can you hear me?" Through the silence Nate could hear a barely perceptible rasping noise, was this wheeze the only sign of life coming from their formidable enforcer? At least he was still alive, at least for the moment. Confirming who was nearest their downed hitter with the remaining team he dispatched War-Rocket Parker on Eliot retrieval duties. "Parker, you know what to do." Drawing his hand across his face Nate released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Squeezing through the seats into the driver seat he set Lucille in motion heading straight towards the Facility. Reflecting Nate argued with his conscience _goddamnit, I knew I should have pulled him out before now,_ then more determined; _we__ can't no, we won't lose him!_

Switching up a gear the instant she heard things turn sour inside the Facility, Parker propelled herself towards Eliot as fast as her little legs could carry her. It was less than three minutes from the first sign of trouble followed by austere silence in her ear to her arrival outside the grim building. Somehow it hadn't seemed nearly so bad the previous night when she had visited with Eliot during one of his noise and icicle torture sessions. _What a difference a day makes_ she thought despondently. Dropping her payload of blankets and jackets, bounty intended to keep the inmates warm that night, she shook lose her recently acquired policeman's rasp and steamed right through the first door straight to knock down lackey number one. _Cheap guard force, shouldn't have used students!_ He went down easily, one strike upon his knee and once more across the shoulders as he fell to the floor. Satisfied that Eliot would approve of her use of force on this occasion she continued on her mission; after all she didn't need junior alerting any of the others. Adrenalin pumping hard and fast around her willowy frame she paused to check for obstacles between her and Eliot's chamber.

Traversing the next corridor, quietly sneaking along the wall, she spotted a man she knew to be Mason in one of the offices. He was stuffing documents into his briefcase, while simultaneously calling someone on his cell and grabbing his coat as he started for the door. Parker thought about taking him on, she would have liked to beat him with the rasp in her hand however now was not the time. Mason would have to wait. Eliot deserved to dole out his own form of punishment given all he'd been put through by this monster. Her sole purpose now was to retrieve Eliot, he was her target and although she would have happily taken Mason out, it would have to wait for a time when her handsome retrieval specialist was not in such dire straits.

"ELIOT!" Nate pleaded across his earpiece upon hearing a definite change in his already erratic breathing noise he was making. _Please_ was the unspoken word despite how much Nate respected Eliot for his varying talents, he had finally shelved his own insecurities and allowed the man into his life, to become his friend. An offer he'd thrown back in the young southerner's face the first time Eliot broached the subject. Nate's inactive mind often wandered back to those early days of Leverage Consulting, when drink was his only friend, back when he thought he was above the likes of Eliot Spencer - wanted man whom he'd chased in his former life. Now, well now was a different matter entirely, Eliot Spencer was one of the most likable, kind-hearted and respectable men he'd had the privilege of calling his friend. Some time before he would have hoped that Sam would turn out to be such a good man and while he wouldn't choose the hitter's trade for his own son, he would be a proud man had his son turned out anything like Eliot Spencer.

Sophie felt tears fall before she realised she was actually crying, feeling unhelpful back at the apartment she had jumped in a cab upon hearing her friends breathing change for the worse. Meanwhile, Hardison, who was on campus and second closest to help out at the Facility, was endeavouring to get away from Travis. The youth had literally appeared in his dorm room seconds before the entire con went to Hell in a handcart, deciding of all the times to 'pop by for a little tête-à-tête' seemingly! Feeling his own heart rate pounding in his chest as it continued to elevate, it dawned on him that he was being detained deliberately, while a man close enough to be his brother was dying across the campus grounds. _No way man, uh-uhn that ain't happenin' on my watch! _ Time to play it fast and loose Alec because you've got to help get Eliot outta there soon. _Breathe, that's it, keep calm. _

"Oh hey man, bum timing 'cos I gotta fly, maybe later?" Hardison tested his theory on Zilgram as he headed for his door, "I scored a hot date with that feisty blonde chick from last night." Hating himself for sounding like a douche he would say whatever it took to get away right away.

"Nah, I don't think so HP, or Alec," Zilgram added self-assuredly as he entered the room completely, turning the lock on the door his monologue went on, "I can call you that, can't I Mr Alec Hardison, of Leverage Consulting." Glancing confidently at Hardison he saw a brief flash of panic, "If you're looking for your associate the filthy bum, well I can tell you he isn't faring so well right now. In fact I'd go so far to say that his situation gets considerably more perilous as each minute passes!" His foe's face morphed into a decidedly smug shape, glancing at his watch before sinisterly adding, "Don't worry HP you'll be joining your friend soon enough." The 'big Z' might have come across as daring and confident even though ultimately he was nervous at having to dispose of this particular fly in the ointment. Amazingly he remained remarkably reassured regarding his backers at the Order of the 206, confident they would cover up his misdemeanours, especially once they became aware of HP's betrayal. Surely this Machiavellian plot would require the attention of a senior Dust Man preferably raising some form of award for Travis because he had been the one to spot the deception after-all?

Believing his speech had intimidated suitably Travis headed straight for Alec, two rather churlish errors. Errantly misjudging HP to be a mere geek and nothing more was just plain ridiculous. Never more grateful for those self-defence scenarios that Eliot had insisted they all memorize and work upon, the typically tame Hacker swung his sack of books towards the weasel's body and took him out with one blow. Finally securing the unconscious sleaze ball to a heating pipe, Alec pulled each end of the torn pillow slip tighter as he enunciated each sentence. "….there's so much to teach you man," continuing as he grabbed hastily his last few bits and pieces, "Times tight man, it's been a blast, one I could have done without!" He needed to get out of the dorm room as a) Eliot needed help and b) with Eliot down, no one was coming to rescue him this time!

Hardison casually locked his former dorm room door for the last time, looking around to see if he was to encounter any more of the Order. While checking in with the team he ran off down the corridor. "I'm out, we're busted and I've locked up Zilgram." At the bottom of the stairs he checked the route was clear before heading towards his car. "Anything from Eliot?" he asked of the whole team in general. The silent reply was deafening.

Across campus inside the Facility Parker had grabbed keys from one of the guards and after what seemed like a lifetime she dived into Cell #13 and spotting the hitter slumped on the floor turned and locked herself inside with him. Now was not the time for unwanted interruptions. Dropping to her knees by Eliot she lifted long wet hair away from his face, tilting his head tenderly so she could check his reactions to her ministrations. She noticed a very slight, slow wheezing noise coming from his mouth and his chest was barely moving. He was drenched and freezing cold. Pulling out blankets while checking in with Nate, "He's barely breathing, ice-cold and soaking wet."

"I'm almost there Parker, what do we need?" Nate asked unsure of what Parker might reply.

"Paramedics Nate, there's a syringe on the floor and he's not doing well, those tiny wheezing breaths are getting tinier!" Rolling Eliot on to his side upon a couple of blankets she shoved him roughly into the recovery position. Checking his pulse she discovered a faint but rapid pulse. "Alright Eliot, we're here for you now." She whispered in his ear as she ran her hand over his hair to brush it back off his face. "Everything's going to be okay, you'll see, Nate is on his way." Parker took hold of his hand, feeling a slight tension as he held it back. He was still conscious, still here with her and the small comfort she was providing was being received and somehow welcomed. Had he been conscious Parker would never have considered taking the cowboys hand, this particular situation called for much more gentile actions on her behalf; when had she ever taken the time to worry about such sensitivities?

Resting his head upon her thigh, Parker gently pulled his hair completely off his face and used her free hand to rub some warmth into his arm. The chill coming off him was bitter and she tried to block out the scene before her by recalling the previous night when she'd sat next to Eliot while he kept her warm in this very room: A room that would forever hold much more sinister memories from now on.

Nate summoned medics straight away then spoke with Detective Bonanno, this was definitely going to require police assistance. Pulling into the parking lot he disconnected the call before jumping out and abandoning the van close by. He headed straight towards the sheltered facility entrance as a rather dishevelled Hardison ran into this view. There were people pouring out, some looked shell-shocked while others were just grateful to have escaped the noise or solitary confinement of the trials.

"How far away are the police?" Hardison asked loudly as he got close enough to Nate for the burly man by the door to hear. Instead of attempting to stop them from entering the final guard lackey simply turned and walked away, choosing to meld in with the flowing crowd.

"Nice one Alec, Parker which room you in?" Simultaneously opening the door and ushering the hacker through in front of him.

"Cell #13, are the medics here yet?" Parker enquired more to keep her mind off what she was witnessing. Up until their arrival she had hummed the song she'd heard Eliot play in that bar, _now, how did it go again, _she thought (and begins to hum along with 'Thinking of You')

"Three minutes out at last call Parker. We're here, let us in please." Nate offered in reply, impressed to have found the thief had locked them in to fortify their position until help could get to them.

Getting up somehow bothered Parker more because it meant she needed to let Eliot's hand go. She had laid more blankets over him but kept her hand in place, hoping that he wouldn't mind and kinda assuming he wouldn't really remember once this was all over.

Letting Nate and Alec in, they took in her distraught look as they piled through the door. Hardison thought about speaking to Parker after their row the previous night, but graciously decided that now was not the time to even use it as a distraction for Parker. Glancing briefly at the downed hitter, Nate instructed Alec outside to Lucille, first to relay an ID name for Eliot, one complete with medical insurance. Also he was to escort in the paramedics when they arrived. The unnaturally quiet hacker turned and darted back out from whence he came leaving the door open.

Dipping down next to where Parker had resumed her place with a now unconscious Eliot, _was that a humming noise coming from Parker?_ Nate thought before he spoke, choosing his next words very carefully. "Parker," slowing down his own breathing and slowly leaning across to touch her arm, "Hey Parker, we're here now and the medics are right behind us. Can you tell me what's been happening in here since you arrived?" Nate kept his voice soft but the tone left no room for misinterpretation.

"Shallow breathing, like panting," Taking a deep breath first to provide an untimely impersonation of Eliot's chest noises followed by spurting out the other symptoms she had noted, all in one swift report. Utterly unfazed by Nate's horrified glare at her panting, she continued. "I think he was conscious when I first arrived and his eyes kept twitching." Pausing for another deep breath, "He keeps moving his mouth but he hasn't said a word." Then it hit him, Nate realised Parker wasn't being nearly as odd as was entirely possible given how quirky she could be on any normal given day. Nope instead the thief hadn't taken her eyes or hands off the hitter throughout her entire report! She even sounded shaky and when Nate looked closer he noticed how much paler she was than usual. It was a rare thing indeed that threw the quirky thief off her game and there was definitely more to this than met the eye.

Muttering, he held a finger to his ear, "Sophie, where are you?" Nate enquired, guessing he was going to need her to help with Parker at the hospital, if not before.

"About five minutes out, I know you told me to wait but I couldn't just listen any longer Nate, I had to doing something useful." Sophie spoke through her comm hiding it by talking into her cell phone, holding it to her head with her delicate shoulder, meanwhile using both hands to retrieve a $50 note which she pushed forward into the taxi driver's tray, urging him to go faster. She had been expecting a stern word at her change of location given Nate's specific instruction for her to remain at the apartment. Instead she was slightly taken aback when she heard no reply to her rambling dialogue.

Spotting movement from the floor, a slight flicker at most, Nate's attention went straight back on the younger man, "Eliot, can you hear me?" Tenderly placing his hand upon the young mans head and leaning closer he heard a distinct gear change in the already too slow breathing, a split second prior to panic setting in thankfully the medics choose that moment to burst in. Fast filling up the cold and dingy cell with their gurney and portable air tank and followed swiftly by a flustered looking Hardison. Clearly Nate's instructions had been adhered with.

Moving Parker away from Eliot was going to be another matter entirely. She had been holding his hand and keeping his wet hair back from his face. Tenderness that Nate hadn't previously been sure Parker was capable of, and not because she wasn't a nice person, she merely lacked finesse in that department. Where most children were taught these skills by their parents, a thing most adults naturally instilled in their offspring. He didn't know if Parker had ever even owned a pet as a child but he had formerly imagined that she would want to hug it so fiercely that it was squashed – again, not maliciously. She always poked Eliot's bruises, punched Hardison's arm and flung herself off buildings without much of a care in the world. A noise returning him to the room, Nate was further reminded of just how young she looked, somehow fragile today. Deciding he needed to do something to clear her out of the medics way, he stepped forward towards her.

"Parker, what say we let them help Eliot?" Nate said calmly as he put his arm around Parker's shoulder, levering her away simultaneously.

"He needs to know we're here, Ellie should have someone with him." She replied, quick as a flash. "What if he wakes up and no one is with him, won't he think we've left him?"

"We're only going to be over here, we won't be far I promise." Nate assured his young team-mate. "Agent Hagen you probably shouldn't go far, because these medics and the police will have some questions for you."

"I've got Hagen's badge here in the van," cut in Hardison, leaving Nate wondering when the hacker had even left the room. Alec had decided he was no use in the medics way and after taking one final glance at his wounded friend he retreated to the confines of Lucille, his trusty van. Hearing another car pull up, he looked out to check for Detective Bonanno. Instead he saw a cab with Sophie arriving and asked where Nate wanted her. All he muttered in reply was the word Lucille. Hardison took his cue and intercepted the grifter.

"Sir, do you know this man? What happened here? Do you know what he's taken?" rapid fire questions from a bewildered medic. Nate stepped straight into mentor mode rattling off the answers.

"His name is Eliot. I highly doubt he took anything voluntarily, the police should be here momentarily to take evidence but you should perhaps take that with you for some idea of what he was injected with." Indicating across the room by the bunk, he pointed out the syringe in order for the medic to bag up what had been used on Eliot.

"We saw it there when we found him. This is FBI Agent Hagen she has been working undercover here. She knew the ringleader had confronted him previously and was angry though there was no reason to believe he was in danger nor any prior evidence of him taking such actions. As you can see, she's very upset." Nate indicated towards the blonde. "So, can you help him?"

"Not here, but with this as evidence we should be able to do more at the hospital. We're leaving for the VA right away." Pointing to her partner strapping Eliot onto the gurney under a heating blanket, taking a closer look Nate noticed an IV had been started and he'd been intubated, all in the few short minutes he'd been distracted by Parker.

"We're looking at early stage hypothermia, diminished breath sounds on both sides, possible collapsed lung or pneumothorax though we won't know for sure until we get him back in the ER." She barely finished her sentence then excused herself as she and her partner raced out the door pushing Eliot's gurney. Parker looked forlorn, but that was nothing to how she was probably feeling. "Sophie, need you in here."

"Okay Nate, Detective Bonanno has just arrived." Acknowledging with thanks to the hacker, Nate followed Parker out the door and catching her up they walked together towards the entrance and that was where they encountered Sophie and the police Captain heading their way.

"Parker, come on let us head to the hospital." She looked from Parker to Nate, somewhat confused by the who shrugged his shoulders while passing off the thief in exchange for receiving the slightly bewildered policeman.

Back in the van, Hardison drove while Parker and Sophie sat in the back. The ladies removed their earpieces while the older woman talked with her younger friend.

"Parker, I know that was hard to see and you were very brave to stay with Eliot," Sophie spoke quietly to her friend, "the sounds of his breathing must have been hard to hear in reality, they were hard enough to hear across the comms." Parker remained oddly still and deathly quiet, two things she never was. Alec looked once more in the rearview mirror at his two friends, they were worried sick. He'd only taken a brief glance at the pale and battered hitter of course he'd heard the noises Eliot made while he was trying to take a single breath. He couldn't have sat in that room watching his friend slowly slip away. Thinking back to Eliot's pallor when he first entered that room and the sounds his body had made him want to be at the hospital even quicker, he put his foot down on the accelerator and returned his concentration to the traffic and his eyes back on the road. Pressing on towards the Veteran's Hospital as fast as he could in order to get all his family back together with a silent prayer to anyone who might be listening to ensure their brother make it through this.

As Parker felt the van speed up, _when had she got into the van_? She looked around straight into the concerned face of her friend Sophie. Realising it had been her who was talking before, Parker suddenly felt the need to verbalise some of her thoughts. "He was so cold Sophie," shaking her head she glanced back out the window. "I've never seen Eliot so still and his breathing, the noises he was making sounded so strange, so painful. He must have been in such awful pain and I couldn't do a thing about it." Looking back at her hands it took her shoulders shuddering for the grifter to realise her young charge was silently crying. Sobbing in fact, how could anyone treat a young child so cruelly as to make them believe they needed to be silent when they cried. Sophie reached for Parker and pulled a very subdued blonde into her arms, talking softly "Oh Parker honey, I'm so sorry that you had to see Eliot like that, we know that his job can be the most dangerous of all the parts we play." Sophie's heart broke for her young friend, although Parker wasn't much younger than herself in reality, in some ways she was light years behind in social and familial skills. The British woman would never begin to question Parker's skill set as a safe cracker or thief, though initially she was very worried about her talents for even the smallest grifting part she might be required for. Especially after stabbing her Mark that one time, but this version of Parker was not how Sophie wanted her to learn about life and love; she would give anything to save her friend from this emotional pain.

"He was breathing Parker, Nate spoke to the paramedics and they put him on oxygen and while that was still getting to his brain and blood was pumping around his body, everything should be alright. Eliot is young, healthy and fit, he should be able to fight this Parker. You kept him going by talking to him, I heard you keeping him calm, I heard you Parker." The dark haired woman grasped the blonde's hands, primarily to keep them still though ensuring she remained grounded, something that usually Eliot would do with a joke or some good food, in his absence the others had some serious tasks to achieve. Prior to hearing Eliot being dumped back into the cell and then Mason confronting him about his real identity, they had all listened as Eliot was water boarded and beaten by Mason's goons and other Dust Men. They hadn't believed things would end well, even before things had gone awry, they all had their suspicions that this con would have a significant effect on their ex-military friend. They all had their suspicions about Eliot and his former life in the Military, though no facts were ever forthcoming be it from the man himself. Nate had searched when he was hunting him across the World and even he couldn't access Eliot Spencer's military files. One thing for sure was they would need to be strong and supportive for their friend while he recuperate. Assuming he could make it through this one last battle.

Pulling up at the hospital Alec stopped at the entrance and ushered the two quiet women out with assurance he'd find them inside, reminding Sophie of Eliot's alias. The waiting room several hours later found the whole team waiting on news of their friend. Nate who had arrived with Detective Bonanno, who in turn left after a brief chat with Hardison and his best wishes for Spencer's recovery. Parker and Sophie sat quietly next to each other. Parker was still pale, well paler than usual she sat staring at the entrance to the dourly decorated room. They waited like this for hours with Nate pacing up and down their chosen side of the waiting room Hardison spent time tapping on an i-thingy, only leaving it alone only to retrieve drinks and nourishment for them, all of which remained untouched next to a very worried Parker. After what seemed like an eternity, a doctor in a white lab coat appeared complete with clipboard, asking for family of Eliot Daniels.

Nate stepped forward and introduced himself as Eliot's brother, Michael and said the other members of the family would need to hear any update. So Nate cut to the chase.

"Doctor as you can appreciate we've waited for a long time to hear news on Eliot, can you tell us how he's doing please?"

"Your brother was taken hostage I hear," awaiting a confirmatory nod from Nate he continued, "when he arrived with us he was in full arrest. His pulmonary system was heavily compromised by the poison introduced into his body by his captors. He had been beaten and it appears repeatedly drown over several hours causing not only hypothermia but leaving his system so compromised he may be left open to other such infections as pneumonia. We've started him on a strong broad spectrum anti-biotic and steroid preparation to help keep that at bay."

"Doctor, do you know what was in the syringe?" Parker demanded, rather than asked, standing she continued, "Will he be alright?"

"I understand your concern Miss, but it's not quite that straight forward. Your friend was poisoned with a variation of snake venom." Taking a pause while the people before him took in some of the information he'd delivered before continuing. "Mr Daniels is responding to the anti-venin though it will be some time before we can fully comprehend the level of damage caused to his internal organs. His lungs were already compromised by his repeated drowning and several cracked ribs from the beatings haven't helped either."

"Will he be okay?" Parker was on her feet again, "Well, you must be able to do something…" shaking off Sophie's arm that had tried to hold her back.

"Your friend is still very seriously ill Miss and his recovery is going to be slow and uncomfortable. Due to the heavy scarring in both his lungs already, he will most definitely need physiotherapy for his lungs to begin with in order to try and regain his full lung capacity. This all assuming his body manages to fight the venom and infections and he will more than likely require oxygen to begin with." Ensuring he had all their attention, clearly Mr Daniels was a close friend and family to these people and they were worried sick about his injuries. Hoping to convey the seriousness without scaring them witless he continued, "What I'm trying to say is that you're all going to need to be extremely patient with my patient, but with time, the proper care and environment he should make a full recovery." Looking down at his belt to see who had just paged him before continuing, "He's about to be moved into a deep pressure chamber, the likes of which used to help divers recover from the Bends. Being in there will make it easier for him to take in pure oxygen and to begin with that is what he needs. If you would like to see him, wait outside by the elevators and he'll be through in the next few minutes. I know you have lots more questions, let us get him through this next 24 hours and then we'll start talking about scenarios and recovery time etc. He really is in the best possible hands right now and we're doing everything we can for him."

"Thank you Doctor," Nate managed before the doctor excused himself and took his leave. The team spent from taking in all this information on their friend. It really was his least favourable side to his job. Eliot was going to be alright, he had to be. It would take time and hopefully if the venom can be counteracted then it was going to take time to get him back to full strength and speed, however the determination set on their faces told Nate that they would all be there for him. Hardison already had his search engines pounding, searching for information on possible snake venoms and their side effects, best possible care givers, best possible outcomes and scenarios for all rehabilitation. Nate glanced across at the ladies and saw Sophie holding Parker's hand. Personally, he never thought he would be back at a hospital hoping and praying for someone he cared for again so soon. Or rather, he'd have preferred people he cared for wouldn't get hurt but that's just not how their world worked, Eliot's especially. Firstly Nate hoped for Eliot to make a full recovery and secondly that the little thief lose that lost look once more and return to the giddy teenager she had become around the team.

Waiting by the elevators the team were shocked at the sight of their friend as his bed was wheeled into the corridor, for Parker it was almost too much to bear. Eliot was pale, even paler than before and certainly whiter than the sheet pulled up to his muscular chest. Thermal heating blankets under him were helping to warm his chilled body gently but at a pace. His handsome facial features were almost fully covered by a full-faced respirator which was provided 100% pure oxygen straight into their friend via a special ventilator. His arms were laden with IV ports and several different bags of fluids, some brighter than others, hung from two poles attached to the head of his bed. Each flowing into their friend, each providing different medication or nourishment directly into this veins. While not completely conscious his eyelids opened at one point and two cobalt blue eyes stood out, neither well focused, seeking out one person in particular and when he found her face he kept those eyes on her until she moved forward to touch his arm. His gurney was laden with equipment, ventilator, heart monitor, pulse ox attached to his index finger. Taking it all in, Sophie stepped forward beside Parker and planted a kiss on his forehead, smiling at the hitter from under her own heavily laden eyes, so full of unshed tears. On the other side of the gurney Alec bumped his shoulder with his clenched fist and told him to fight, get well soon as the place was full of sexy nurses. Nate found the experience harder than he would have ever believed. It was so hard to see the vibrant young cowboy so stationary and so thoroughly unwell. Choking down a lump in his throat Nate wished him a speedy recovery and assured him the team was clear from the job and they'd wait to see him when he was out of the chamber.

Nurses came forward to continue Eliot's journey towards the oxygen chamber yet Parker found it hardest to let the hitter be wheeled away, she didn't want to let go of this new warm version of him and she so desperately wanted to erase that awful memory from his cell. Tears dripping from her own bright blue eyes Parker leant forward and placed a kiss on his forehead, holding his fingertips gently, she whispered in his ear, "Come back to me Ellie, I need you here." Finally letting go of his hand, she turned and fell straight into Sophie's open arms for a motherly cuddle. Sophie's heart was breaking for her, Eliot must get well and come back to the team or she didn't hold out much hope for Parker keeping her wits about her.

As they wheeled him away, he raised a pulse ox weighted finger with which he managed a small wave.

**Author's Note: I know that there are several inaccuracies from the actual episode; I have chosen to change a few things to keep it in line with my own version of events. I hope this hasn't spoiled your reading pleasure in any way and once more I'm grateful for your continued patience.**

**Any comments, laudatory or otherwise, please let me know x**


	5. Chapter 4

**AN The usual notes apply, I don't own anything belonging to Leverage or I would have never let TNT cancel it!**

**We catch up where we left the team, waiting on news of Eliot after his final hours in the Facility with Mason and his goons. I am incredibly sorry for the length between chapters, but I solemnly promise to finish this story and Escaping the Past - I won't leave you high and dry like TNT.**

After his initial 24 hours Eliot had been released from the hyperbaric chamber and assigned a private room within Intensive Care. Parker hadn't moved, not since she'd seen Eliot in the corridor being taken towards the Decompression Chamber for his Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. She sat stock still and spoke not a word. Her first and only reaction in that time had been when two doctors entered the otherwise empty room specifically for the use of people awaiting news from loved ones seeking treatment upon the Intensive Care Unit.

"Family of Eliot Daniels?" asked the female of the two doctors.

"Yes, my brother." Nate stepped forward, offering his hand to shake while ensuring to include all the team in discussions. "We're all here for Eliot."

"Doctor Pitt-Fox," the young man stepped forward, "I'm sorry that we haven't been able to give you much news prior to this point. As we warned yesterday, it was an extremely difficult period for your brother, particularly while he was in the chamber. Now that he has passed through the first 24 hours I can say it was extremely helpful to clear out Eliot's lungs even though it was exceptionally hard on him given his state upon arrival. Both lungs were severely compromised and using 100 per cent pure oxygen helped to clear them out to a certain extent. Now we're left with the secondary issues, first of which was the poison administered by injection and you'll be happy to hear, swift intervention with the anti-venin renders this no longer a concern."

"That's all good news Doctor, but why do I feel like the other shoe is about to drop?" Nate spoke calmly though his folded arm stance belied how frustrated he was feeling, he was in no mood to be drawn in by all the good news and charm this doctor was exuding. _In another life he would have made an excellent con man._

"Of course Mr Daniels," looking sheepishly, "your brother remains seriously ill and currently unable to breathe unaided." He continued to avoid the spurious glares he felt he was receiving from the two ladies within the group. "Eliot has increased crackling sounds in both lungs highlighting double-lung pneumonia, which is serious enough on its own. However presented with hypothermia, as in the case here, is life threatening."

It was all too much for Parker who let out a choked sob and putting her hands up straight away to cover her eyes she struggled against the Grifter as Sophie pulled her closer to offer comfort and help calm the bereft youngster.

Kneeling closer in front of the stricken woman the female doctor, who introduced herself as Olivia Steele continued, "Miss, while it is serious and a downturn that we were hoping to avoid, it was always on our watch list to be concerned about. We have upped his anti-biotic and steroids to encourage lung productivity. He is ventilated, which he initially fought, causing us to sedate him, which he also fought, requiring us to sedate him as heavily as feasible given his lung damage. It's quite normal for someone to fight with the vent, it isn't comfortable and usually unwelcome. However, his strength was something of concern to us, he looked frankly petrified and it was all we could do to encourage him to relax without having to restrain him."

"Nooooo."

It was one word, one solitary word, simply stated with such force and so powerful in its delivery that it grabbed all their attention.

"Please don't restrain him, he won't like it." Parker pleaded with the doctor searching out Nate's eyes to confirm his support at her plea.

Watching the odd exchange the doctor took in the solemn nod from Nate, "Okay, we'll try to avoid that though if he comes around again and is a danger to himself and my staff we'll be left with no other option but a medically induced coma." Dr Pitt-Fox explains. "I'm sorry if that seems harsh, but if he removes the vent there won't be anything left for us to do in order to help save his life."

Nate stepped forward, kneeling too in front of Parker and placing his hand upon her knee in a renewed attempt to connect with the quirky blonde. "Parker we don't want Eliot being scared when he wakes up, I think it's really the best idea for him to have a few days of complete rest which will give his lungs some time to begin healing." Nate spoke softly and gently as he directed his statement at Parker though looking at both the remaining members of the team. Directing back to the doctor, "That will help, right?"

"I won't lie, Mr Daniels, your brother is in an extremely delicate condition and the coma itself is not without danger, but put simply it may well be in his best interest if he is likely to react badly on awakening. Does he suffer nightmares?" Dr Steel added.

"Yes," Parker and Sophie both exchanged a look after they both blurted out their friend's secret. "...he does." Sophie continued, solo this time. While the doctors did not question the odd exchange Hardison and Ford exchanged an equally perplexed look. Nate decided now was not the time to question how both female members of the team knew this fact.

"Then it is most appropriate that we induce a comatose state." Dr Pitt-Fox stated, "If you'll excuse me, I'll make the arrangements straight away." And with that he swept out of the room as quickly as he'd entered.

"Honestly, we didn't believe your brother would make it through the first 24 hours. He is an incredibly strong young man and we hope he has plenty of fight left in him." Dr Steele replied to Nate particularly though addressing the entire group of people gathered for her patient.

Turning her attention back to Parker, Olivia Steele couldn't help but wish to comfort the young lady in front of her, the young woman who was so obviously stunned by her boyfriend's cruel torture and his subsequent injuries, "Parker, I can tell that you care very much about Eliot and that in itself can be powerful stuff when it comes to healing the sick. He will need your strength for when he comes round. You need to be strong for him but you also need to look after yourself." Patting the young woman on the knee she offered for her to be paged should they have any further questions and meanwhile they would continue with their plan to induce their friend into his dreamless sleep.

His intubation ventilator had been changed from the specialist piece used within the chamber to a standard ventilator, after which the doctors and nurses surrounded his bed and began thorough investigations of his battered body. They had worked tirelessly, teamwork invaluable while ribs were set and chest drain emptied. Eliot's lungs were heavily compromised and he was being helped yet again by the steroids and anti-biotic that were being pumped through his system and the steady whooshing noise from the ventilator. Warm fluids being replaced, warmed medication all being flushed fully-open through intravenous drips into his system. Warming blankets were changed in and out continuously by the angels that hovered over their patient throughout, allowing the Leverage Team members to concentrate on their own private worry.

Later the next day and once more Parker hardly moved, this time from Eliot's side since they'd been allowed back in to his room. Given how severe circumstances were the hospital had waived their usual rules in ICU by permitting the group of friends to visit continually, as long as they moved out of the way whenever required to do so. Now while Nate stood back from the bed watching as the young man fought once more, injured helping another innocent, was there anything this man would not do to help protect people from the stark violence that others were capable of? Staring as his young friend's chest rose and fell with each whoosh of a ventilator, he couldn't help but think back to what the doctor had told him a few minutes prior. It was an understatement to say that Eliot had a battle on his hands, and this one time Nate wasn't sure how much fight the Hitter could possibly have left in him. The prognosis was entirely down to chance, how clean the water they repeatedly drown him with was, how warm or cold it had been, how hard the punches had been to his ribs, how clean the breaks and fractures were, the list of variables went on and he doubted that even Hardison would be able to calculate the probability factors on this one. He didn't know what was best to tell the team. The latest prognosis from Eliot's doctor had been less than enlightening, his words echoing in Nate's mind.

…_Cold water drowning can cause severe neurologic sequelae - Although initial treatment of submersion victims were not always affected by double sided pneumothorax, in this case he had. Serum electrolyte derangements may be related to the salinity of the water, particularly where large amounts of water are ingested. Immediate threats had included serious effects on the central nervous and cardiovascular systems. However, the doctor was content that all and every immediate-action had been taken care of, which offered prompt correction of hypoxemia and acidosis. _

___Core rewarming with warmed oxygen, continuous bladder lavage with fluid at 40°C, and intravenous (IV) infusion of isotonic fluids at 40°C was initiated during resuscitation. Warm peritoneal lavage has been used for core rewarming in patients with severe hypothermia. A cascade unit on the ventilator has been used to warm inspired air._

_The degree of damage to the Central Nervous System was as yet undetermined, mainly due to Eliot's state of consciousness. The possibility of damage came two-fold, first because of the severity and duration of hypoxia and secondly because of the poison. The most devastating effects had been cases where something called Post hypoxic cerebral hypo perfusion became apparent causing long-term effects of cerebral hypoxia, basically vegetative survival. The doctor had assured Nate that every single thing that could be done, had been done. _

_Sometimes though, _Nate thought_, somehow he worried that 'everything' just might not have been enough this time. _

Allowing his mind to return to the room drawn back by the solemn beep of a heart monitor. He couldn't listen to another whoosh of the ventilator, turning to leave Nate noticed that Parker was humming again. It didn't matter that he wanted to ask her about this song that kept playing in her head but he opted to leave it for now, despite being sure he was starting to recognize the tune.

Not wanting to frighten the oddly static thief by speaking his intentions out loud, Nate slipped from the room and paused with his hand on the closing door to wipe his other across his weary face, returning thumb and forefinger to his nose where he pinched hard. Hoping for any chance that it may alleviate the pounding in his head; akin to the worst hangover he'd ever had. This action did not go unnoticed by Sophie who had been hovering close to the entrance since her comfort break.

"Nate," speaking softly the British lady gulped, looking tearful as she glanced towards the room, "has something happened?"

"No Sophie," realizing how he must have looked, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to give you the impression…" Nate trailed off as he was pulled into a tender embrace.

"Oh darling, this must bring back such awful memories for you," she spoke softly in his ear, "It may seem bleak now but we must not give up on Eliot, he would never give up on us."

Moving his head from her shoulder without leaving the comfort of her arms, Nate looked closely at the beautiful woman several inches from his face, taking in her striking beauty often took his breath away. He reminded himself to tell her later; now was not the moment. "It's not just being in a hospital, the smell of a chemical cleanliness, pacing outside another Intensive Care Unit. No this time it's not just the reminders of losing Sam or the possibility of losing another son. No it's more this time, this time is more grave than any other time Eliot's been injured, this time Parker, well, she's different somehow." Pausing once more while he chose the right word, "She looks lost Sophie."

Noticing the slight change on the Grifters face, a brief glimpse that would have gone unnoticed by anyone else but Nate wasn't just anyone, knew this woman inside out. A flash of guilt almost. Before he could question her Sophie spoke once more.

"I suspected a short while ago Nate, I should have said something but by then she came to me and admitted her feelings and it was the first time Parker had actually opened up to me about anything, especially something like this. I couldn't tell you then." Sophie stroked her hands from Nate's shoulders down to his forearms, trying to comfort but also instill a sense of calm in the Mastermind. "It doesn't even matter right now darling, it's just important that we're all here together, for Eliot."

After almost a moment of tranquility Nate spoke once more. "Of course Sophie," He acknowledged, "You're right." _As usual _he thought without verbalizing.

"Let me talk with Parker and see how she's holding up. It might be worth checking on Alec, he's been spending more and more time _with_ Lucille and less time in here." Sophie had suspected the Hacker had noticed the changes in Parker and almost certainly realized that he would lose the girl of dreams, perhaps he could do with someone to talk to.

"I'll go sit with him now. Put your ear bud back in and for now make sure Parker removes hers. I'll tell Alec what's going on with Eliot and you listen at the same time." Silencing a protest from the Grifter with a placating hand. "She needs to understand, yes I get that, but there is a lot of information to take in, so I'd prefer we could give her some hope before we explain it all. I'm afraid there isn't much good news."

"Alright Nate, I'll go and sit with her and Eliot now." Pressing a quick kiss to his cheek while holding his other cheek in her elegant hand, Sophie hoped that this news wouldn't prove to be too much for the blonde youngster sat next to the downed Hitter. "Be gentle Nate, Alec needs to know he is loved and cared for as much as the rest of us."

Taking her place next to the Hitter's bedside Sophie joined the eerily silent Thief and offered an apologetic smile when she looked across to her. After ensuring that Parker had her ear bud out of her ear, Sophie sat still while what seemed like an eternity passed as Nate explained everything the doctor had told him about their friend.

"Oh my God," the Hacker whispered, the most he'd said in the previous hours.

"We wait, as patiently as we can we wait and we do what we can for each other to get through this. We will get through this together, all of us. I believe in Eliot and I know that he is fighting his hardest he can, no matter the circumstances and wherever he is right now, he's fighting his way back to us. You've all learned to trust in ways you'd never of imagined some years ago. Trust in each other and now we've all got to prove this by putting our faith in Eliot."

Nate trailed off as he listened to a faint sob from Sophie's ear bud, the usually composed and demure lady was upset and he was nowhere near her to comfort her. Feeling guilty he spoke directly to her as if she were in the room. "Sophie, I know you're upset and there's nothing about this situation that I can change right now but please try to hold it together for Parker."

As if reading their minds Parker chose that moment to speak up for the first time in hours.

"Sophie, don't be sad. Eliot's going to be fine, you'll see."

"Yes Parker, hopefully he will." Sophie admitted quietly, composing herself before she continued. "It's just hard to see him here looking so fragile."

"He looks younger." Parker admitted as she brushed a stray lock of hair back off his forehead with her left hand, without letting go of his big hand held within her right.

"Perhaps because he seems to shoulder a lot of the trouble it makes me think of him being older. Somehow I guess he's had a much harder life than we'll ever know."

"What did the doctor tell Nate?" enquired Parker who was now looking Sophie right in the eye. As if to dare her to try and tell a lie.

"Why don't we take a short break, I need you to look after yourself too. We could get a drink, something to eat maybe and I can explain what I know." Seeing the immediate dilemma upon Parker's face, Sophie continued, "Nate and Alec will come and sit in here with Eliot. He won't ever be alone, I promise."

"Okay." Parker replied meekly, then matter of factly added, "I really need to pee."

Somehow the break in Parker's demeanor was enough to lighten everything, allowing Sophie to let out a breath she knew she'd been holding all day.

"Right Hardison, let's make a move." Slapping the Hacker on the back he got up and headed out of the back of Lucille. "Time to go keep an eye on Eliot." Alec shut down his laptop and grabbed his bag and iPad before following Nate out of the van and across to the hospital room.

"Is there any reason why you've been spending so much time in the van Alec?" Nate enquired casually as they walked across the parking lot.

"Just researching possible outcomes for Eliot man, I ain't avoiding him Nate." The young man paused before he stopped and looked Nate in the face. "It's hard seeing him like this. He's usually grumpy and stuff but that stuff he does is hard, much harder than hacking some dumb computer."

"That's it?" Nate seemed dumbfounded, "Nothing to do with Parker?"

A wry smile came across the face of the younger man, "Nah, I seen the way she looks at him and when he ain't being grumpy I've seen how he looks at her too. I mean it would have been nice but I guess I'm down with it as long as they're both happy."

Grateful for the Hacker's forthrightness Nate decided to explain a thing or two about his part in all these jobs.

"Alec, your job is not easy either. It may be executed much differently than Eliot's and his may come with more physical risks but you can't dismiss your abilities. Thanks to you Eliot is actually getting the best treatment on offer." Seeing the despair in Hardison's eyes at the mention of the Hitter's injuries again, Nate decided it was time to impart some little known knowledge on the younger man. "Last time Eliot was this badly injured he was alone and trapped in a prison in Myanmar. There was no one to provide him with a cover to escape let alone get him the treatment he needed. He survived on his wits alone. Now he doesn't have to do this alone, this time we can help him to recover and he owes that to you."

"How on earth did he get out of there?" was pretty much all Alec Hardison could think about at that moment in time, feeling a little relieved by Nate's reasoning as to his worth on the team. _ Now all he could think about was just how much else didn't they know about each other?_

"That's for him to tell you, once he's much better. Now let's get going before the ladies leave."

Detective Patrick Bonanno had found the weary team in a room in the Intensive Care Unit of the VA hospital, right where he suspected they would be and undoubtedly remain until their team mate was able to leave with them. Carrying a folder of photographs from the recordings they'd found at the Centre, Patrick wanted to confirm the main players with the consultants of Leverage Associates while memories were still fresh in their heads: Confident all the while they would have their own copies of surveillance and enough information to sink the Order of the 206 and bring further disrepute to the Dust Men of the Central Intelligence Agency. _Jees, that had to be the joke of the Century. Since when do we allow people to be tortured and murdered on our own soil?_ He mused sardonically. Indicating his presence at the door with a subtle cough, he asked straight away if there was news about their colleague, then explained his visit, "I know this is a bad time, but I have some news for you."

Patrick Bonanno showed Nate the folder and a USB stick containing a copy of the surveillance from Mason's interview with their friend. Inviting Alec Hardison to step outside with his iPad was his first move. Hardison plugged in the key and set the files to open, first up was Eliot's initial interview with Mason, the one where the word challenge was issued. The second interview had been less pleasant leading them to the final file which contained detailed images and audio of his final 'interrogation' of Eliot. Nate didn't think he was a violent man though after seeing the first few minutes of torture visited upon the young southerner he could be convinced it was worthwhile with Mason in mind. It had been so utterly fruitless and horrendous to watch, it left him feeling sick. He noticed the young hacker had visibly paled during the final file played on, a sight he wished could have been spared him. When Alec stood abruptly leaving the pair alone, Patrick finally spoke, giving Nate a complete run down on what they had found out in the investigation thus far.

It was three more painfully slow days before Eliot was removed from the ventilator as his lungs had regained enough strength for him to breathe by himself. The pneumonia was under control and yet he was still unconscious. This was the greatest worry with his repeated drowning, the possibility of brain damage or central nerve damage. Things that couldn't be ruled out until Eliot awoke from his lengthy slumber.

Sometime during the night, they had all fallen into an uncomfortable slumber around his bed, Parker by his side, his hand in hers. Sophie in the chair on the other side of his bed and Nate and Alec slept upright on chairs nearer the wall. To begin with no one noticed any change. Well, apart from one of them.

Eliot Spencer felt as though his lungs were being squeezed while filled with razor blades. Trying to take a breath was harder than he had could ever remember. Feeling his tongue was swollen and too big for his mouth, while his whole bodied ached aside from his chest which felt like an elephant was crushing it with his foot. The haziness he could understand better if perhaps he'd been in a hospital but this room wasn't like any hospital he'd ever encountered before. There was an absence of the usual medicated smell that lingered despite every effort to dispel it and the décor was bright, not clinical white but cream coloured. He felt that his head was pounding and it was difficult to make out all the fuzzy shapes. _How on earth had he ended up in here?_

Opening his eyes to investigate further had taken more energy than he really had to spare right now and even considering the time and energy required to open his eyes was a bad enough sign as far as he was concerned. Being careful once more he opened his eyes slightly and briefly, or was he actually being discreet or merely unable to open his eyes for any longer than a few seconds? He couldn't seem to get his thoughts straight nor work out why he was feeling this awful. He felt the cold infusion of medication drip from the bag into his IV port, recalling the feel of cold liquid had his heart speed up rapidly.

They had delighted in using buckets of ice cold water while they boarded him. Pouring bucket after bucket over his covered face so as to further screw with his mind. Constricting his breathing and slowly filling his lungs with whatever excess fluids he hadn't thrown up during the miniscule respites between the buckets of iced liquid.

Eliot had awoken briefly, his eyes shot open his arms flailing wildly trying to get that elephant off his chest, until he felt the fight once more from his punished lungs. Struggling even as weakly as he had was causing even more problems drawing breath. The heart monitor was what woke them all, not the noise they'd hoped for but it meant that Eliot was coming around. Ushered from the room as Eliot started to flail his arms they were left to guess what might be happening as the room was filled with nurses, doctors and machinery.

Now the team waited once more, they weren't faring much better, albeit in less physical pain, the emotional conflict with their team mate laying fighting for his life, struggling to draw a deep breath was more painful than any other they had witnessed before; aside from Nate of course. He paced continuously while they waited outside the room and since then had taken a seat closest to the door, fortunately they were the only family waiting for a loved one this particular night. Sophie took turns as to who took her attention, of course her priority was to keep watch on their injured friend but she also felt the need to keep an eye on Nate and his hospital phobia.

Parker returned to her scarily still mode and had fallen silent once again. It was a great shame that she had to be initiated into the harsh realities of the Retrieval Specialist's life. She looked forlorn and Sophie new that she was having trouble controlling her feelings. What on earth would they do if the worst happened?

Nate was the only one to leave, along with Alec Hardison on several occasions to deal with Detective Bonanno and pass on the files and knowledge they had accrued. Information had been passed onto the CIA through various nefarious contacts Nate had kept from his days chasing several high profile names on the lists. The CIA provided their usual reply, they could neither confirm nor deny any such operations within the Boston area. Nate simply pointed them to the information and suggested that Boston PD had swooped on the place and removed several injured veterans who were being cruelly tortured by a man called Mason with help from a college student along with several of his friends. What had they intended on doing about it? The outcome had been the removal of all protection for Zilgram and his cronies, jail awaited them and it was nothing less than they deserved. Mason of all people had been bundled onto a helicopter and taken away. Detective Bonanno had enquired as gently as he possible could about the truth behind the operations from the Veteran's Centre – Nate had of course given him everything he could and advised them that while they wouldn't be pressing charges they would support claims from the others involved in the insane project.

Arriving back in time for the doctors to return with their latest update, Nate placed his hand on Sophie's shoulder, leaning in to ensure she knew he was back and would be with her throughout this ordeal. Parker stared down at the floor and though she remained silent and still at least she sat closer to the group, while Hardison bounced his knee nervously, tapping a finger away on his iPad simultaneously. The young hacker had found the silence overwhelming and early into their first 24 hour vigil he had extracted himself to the sanctity of Lucille to gather his thoughts and see if there was anything practical he could be doing while they waited on news of their friend. Sitting with his elbow on his knees and head in his hands, Alec Hardison didn't know which way to turn, he knew Eliot took care of the violent side of things but never had he been so close to the action. Nor did he ever wish to witness any of it first-hand again anytime soon. Thinking back to cell #13, he shook his head attempting to shake the cold shiver that ran through him, memories of a freezing cold cell where the soaking wet hitter was struggling to breathe as his lungs filled with fluids. Eliot had never looked so broken and it frightened him that it was that simple for a case to go so badly wrong. Parker, well she had never looked so scared and yet she bravely knelt by the downed Hitter's side and held his hand while talking to him to keep him from entering completely the abyss of unconsciousness. They still hadn't discussed their argument as it seemed ridiculously trivial given the current circumstances, though he wished he could clear the air. Now as he placed his hand closer to hers while they waited once more, folded upon her knees, sliding across the empty chair and closer to the blonde he pulled her closer with his other arm around her shoulders. He wanted to offer support while they heard from the doctors, Parker had refuted any such offer prior but now she seemed to fold into his arms. Though paler than she should be, Sophie noted from across the waiting room.

The doctor was once again joined by Dr Olivia Steele and waved to the seats for the members of the oddly gathered family so she could begin. "We'll get to the point as we know you've spent a very long time waiting to hear what was happening with Eliot earlier."

"In short," Dr Pitt-Fox started, "Your friend was regaining consciousness when his heart went into arrhythmia, we lost him at one point but he's now back with us. He has come through the last 90 hours surviving against as many of the nastier hiccups we envisaged." Hearing a small sigh of relief exit all their lungs, the doctors looked towards each other before they continued. "As you know Eliot's respiratory system was severely compromised when he arrived with us. He had fluid building in both lungs, was severely hypothermic and that was all without the poison entered into his blood system."

Taking over from her weary colleague, "He is making good progress with his lungs, has been breathing on his own for 60 hours now. The pneumonia is beginning to show signs of departing and his hypothermia has diminished. I can hear crackling on both sides of his lungs but it has improved greatly."

"Believe it or not, what you saw was a good sign, Mr Daniels was waking up. Coming around from the medically induced coma."

Parker didn't know where the tears had come from but she felt an overwhelming urgency to be with Eliot, to not leave his side until she had seen those steely blue eyes staring back at her. Instead moving from her chair after a reassuring hug from Alec, she fell into Sophie's arms and the tears just continued falling.


End file.
